I started 40 years ago with a regular garden. For a few years it worked out well, good crops, few insects, no blight, enough rain that I could water with a hose if needed. The area was about 30 feet wide and 100 long. I rotated the garden, 1 year fallow, on year crop and 4 years between tomatoes, potatoes, etc in the same place. I had a constant battle with animal pests, deer, raccoons, birds, you name it and they came to eat. Each year I had more problems with bugs and disease and I was forced to use some chemicals in order to get any production and the late blight made potatoes and tomatoes a losing proposition. In order to limit problems, I went to raised beds, 4 foot by 8 foot, near the house and in a new area. I used the square foot gardening practices and had good luck with it. Better control of soul, high yield, , easy to weed, etc. It has its limits also. Does not do well with large plants, tomatoes, etc, and does not scale well for survival production levels. 500 pounds of potatoes is just not practical, frost and planting early are also limiting factors. Square Foot Gardening To handle that problem I bought a conduit bending tool and made a mini hoop house with 1 inch conduit that made a cover for the bed. Covered with greenhouse plastic, used sand bags to hold the plastic down, and easy to remove. Allowed me to plat early and protect against first frosts. While it is a great , still limited to a small area for survival gardening. Meet The Hoop Bender! — Home Orchard Education Center This lead to wanting a larger hoop house that I could walk in and to still afford. I bought a bender and built a 12 foot wide hoop house. It worked out well, much better than plastic hoops or a wood frame. Still in a few years I went to a commercial hoop house, about 20 years go. Ended up covering the small high tunnel with a tarp and using it for storage. Well worth the trouble. https://www.buildmyowngreenhouse.com/images/All_12_take_4_A.pdf About 20 years ago I bit the bullet and bought a commercial hoop house kit from Rimol greenhouses. I bought their Eastpoint high tunnel kit with no end walls or heating and cooling package. I got the double plastic covering and the roll up sides and built my own ends. Heated it with a wood stove and a construction heater with a thermostat. Had both, and found a used fan for $100 on Craigslist. At the time it cost me about $2500, now it would be about $7000 I think. The price of a snowmobile or a 4 wheeler. Have had 20 years use of it, replace plastic about every 6 or 8 years and use the inner plastic, still good for other projects or help people get started. One of the best survival and just good buys I have ever made. Unlike a building, if you move you can take it with you and just replace the plastic. Eastpoint 20 x 48 I wouldn't consider any of the things I have done a failure, rather each has added features that I wanted in a cost effective manner. With my present semi heated green house I can have tomatoes, green peppers etc from May to Thanksgiving, herbs about the same period, and carrots, lettuce, cabbage, cold weather crops all winter. Mr Colman in his excellent book describes ways to have a four season greenhouse in Maine and is well worth reading just for the pleasure of his work. Four-Season Harvest - $12.47 - Chelsea Green Publishing
